1. Field of the Invention
The specification relates to a system and method for monitoring device usage. In particular, the specification relates to monitoring device usage based on transactions between devices.
2. Description of the Background Art
Companies increasingly rely upon many types of devices for group and individual use. The devices each have a certain life after which they need to be serviced or replaced. Typically, that is done when the device malfunctions resulting in a disruption of the continuity of everyday business.
Some prior art systems, for example multifunction printers, record device usage through additional hardware and software embedded inside the devices. The usage data is collected either manually or by using an extra piece of hardware, for example a server, that collects and centralizes data and analytics from each device before generating a report that summarizes the usage pattern of a fleet of devices. This is problematic because each device has to come equipped with the hardware or, if possible, software has to be installed.